Nebraska officials file charges in medical marijuana petition fraud case
Secretary of State Bob Evnen certified the medical marijuana petition despite alleged falsified signatures.
LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - Hall County Attorney Martin Klein and Attorney General Mike Hilgers have announced a felony charge in relation to medical marijuana petitions in Nebraska.
A release says that the charges are related to potentially fraudulent signatures on petitions for the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation and Medical Cannabis Patient Protection.
“All of the pages with suspected fraudulent signatures were traced back to one petition circulator, Michael Egbert of Grand Island,” a release states.
Egbert is being charged with false swearing into a circulator’s affidavit on a petition. As this is a Class IV felony, he may be facing a maximum of two years in prison, or up to a $10,000 fine.
His arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 2 at 1:30 p.m.
Hilgers and Klein spoke about the charges on a joint press conference Friday morning.
A report says that an investigation started after Hall County Election Commissioner Tracy Overstreet found potentially fraudulent signatures. Counties in Nebraska went through signature verification.
The investigation found that several signatures had wrong spellings and birthdates, as well as signatures of deceased residents.
Klein said he is working to keep the integrity of the election process.
“Nebraskans expect secure elections. As we head into election season, Nebraskans should be confident that the election and law enforcement officials will work together to identify and investigate fraudulent activity,” said Attorney General Mike Hilgers.
STATEMENT FROM NEBRASKANS FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA
The medical marijuana petitions can still be presented to voters in November, but Secretary of State Bob Evnen gets the final say after certifying the rest of the signatures.
A lawsuit challenging two medical marijuana petitions was filed in Lancaster County on Thursday.
The lawsuit alleges the petitions are insufficient not only because of invalid signatures, but also because Evnen blocked access to petition documents in several counties.
Read the medical marijuana complaint
—
Get the latest breaking news updates delivered to your inbox. Sign up for 6 News email alerts.
Copyright 2024 WOWT. All rights reserved.
